Cozy Review: Something Deadly on Desert Drive

Cozy Mystery – Humorous Amateur Detective Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Arizona
Tule Publishing (June 21, 2022)
Print length ‏ : ‎ 209 pages
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09QRYQDBY

Starting over at fifty might be hard, but it shouldn’t be deadly…

Still recovering from an injury that might have permanently derailed her career as an international war correspondent, Kate Tessler is living in her childhood bedroom and pondering her second act when another case lands in her lap. Kate’s father and his coffee group are worried. Their friend Larry married a younger woman who now insists he has dementia and won’t let any of his friends visit. They’re convinced that Larry’s wife and her two adult, dead-beat kids are out to steal his money. Can Kate help?

Soon Kate and her unusual gang of sidekicks are unofficially, officially investigating. But before they can dig out the truth, a murder raises the stakes. Now they need to prove Larry is both mentally competent and not a killer. They’ll have to find the real murderer—without risking their own lives in the process.

My Review:
Thanks to Great Escapes tours, I recently reviewed the first book in this series, and because I enjoyed it a lot, I was excited to get the chance to read and review book two. I love the main character, who is not a sweet young thing, but a woman almost old enough to be invisible. That can be helpful in investigations, though Kate’s injury, limp, and cane make it a little harder for her to fade into the woodwork! Still, she's doing her best to embrace her new accidental career.

The mystery is well put together, and there was a nice secondary mystery. Though it was minor and quickly resolved, it shows promise for an increasing complication and realism in the stories. I admit that this time I was pretty sure from early on who was the culprit, as there wasn’t really anyone else. But it was fun to see how the author and the main character unraveled the (lack of) clues to reach that conclusion, and prove it.

The hint of romance from Book 1 is developing nicely into a bit more than a hint, but is at this point still definitely not the main focus of the story. I hope the author keeps it that way.

My Recommendation:
This is a series to check out! Good adventures, interesting human relations, and mysteries that you can sink your teeth into.

Now, Kate Tessler is here to talk a bit about her new adventure:

It’s strange moving back home when you’re almost 50. I’m living in the house where I grew up, with my father as a roommate. He’s seventy-six, barely medium height, and wiry. His friends are around his age, a bunch of nice old guys who meet for coffee twice a week. Joining them sounds pleasant enough, if a bit boring, right?

Well, not when they have a problem they want me to solve. They think their friend Larry’s new wife is taking advantage of him. She’s “young” – meaning my age! – and she’s isolating him from his friends and alienating his adult children. Is it because she’s trying to get control of his money? Or is she telling the truth when she says he has dementia and needs her constant care?

I’m a journalist, or I was, so I have some skills when it comes to investigating. It won’t hurt to look into it. At least that’s what I assumed, which is how I found myself helping my father and his friends sneak Larry out of his house. Technically, I suppose that’s considered kidnapping, but what’s a little abduction between friends? They merely wanted to take him to a doctor and get an unbiased opinion.

From there, things went downhill fast. Looking back, it’s hard to say when it all started to go wrong. When we snuck Larry back into the house without searching it? When we tricked his wife to get him out in the first place? When I agreed to this caper? Maybe I was a little bored, having solved one mystery in Phoenix and put away a killer. Maybe I missed the excitement of facing down warlords with armed bodyguards.

Maybe I should have minded my own business.

But no, the murder would’ve happened with or without my involvement. Now we can only hope the police don’t recognize those of us who showed up on the door cam. In the meantime, we’d better find some other suspects.

Sherlock Holmes had his street kid helpers, the Baker Street Irregulars. I have my dad and his friends, the Coffee Shop Irregulars. They’re less helpers and more troublemakers. They mean well, but you know what paves the road to hell.

I have thirty years’ experience as a journalist, covering wars and natural disasters. Nothing prepared me for this.

Something Deadly on Desert Drive: The Accidental Detective Book 2

After an injury disrupts her journalism career, Kate Tessler has to start over at 50, figuring out how to get work, make friends, and live in the heart of her loving but interfering family. Now she and her quirky gang of sidekicks have new problems to solve.

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About the Author

Kris Bock writes novels of mystery, suspense, and romance, many with outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Get a free Accidental Detective short story and bonus material when you sign up for her newsletter. You’ll also get a free 30-page sweet romance set in the world of the Furrever Friends cat café and a printable copy of the recipes mentioned in the cat café novels

Kris is also writing a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. Follow the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. Sign up for our romantic comedy newsletter and get Felony Melanie Destroys the Moonshiner’s Cabin. Or find the books on Amazon US or All E-book retailers

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